Chapter 70#

With a “clack,” the pen in Qiao Nanqi’s hand fell.

He had already been drifting off, but he was jolted awake by the sound. Snapping his eyes open, he realized he had actually fallen asleep while working.

Xiao Wu was nearby, organizing items on the filing cabinet.

Having just taken a light nap, Qiao Nanqi’s voice was somewhat low and raspy. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

Xiao Wu replied without hesitation, “There wasn’t any urgent work, and seeing how tired you’ve been these past few days, I didn’t want to disturb you.”

In the past, if he had asked a question with such a suppressed tone, anyone in the company—even Xia Yuantu—would have been trembling in their boots, carefully weighing their words.

But now, even though Xiao Wu knew Qiao Nanqi might get angry, he couldn’t help himself—Qiao Nanqi truly needed rest lately.

He used to work every day, but at least back then, he was busy when he needed to be and rested when it was time. Now? He spent the entire day immersed in the company. Aside from necessary social obligations among friends or going home briefly at dinner time, he spent all his time at the office.

Never mind the daytime; Qiao Nanqi was there even at night. Sometimes when it got late, he would just sleep at the company, spending very little time at home.

If there were truly major affairs to attend to, it would be one thing—but where were the major affairs lately? Aside from transferring the old Chen family assets to Lu Xingping and Zhao Rong, the company had been sailing smoothly. Xia Yuantu was so idle he spent every day at bars, yet only Qiao Nanqi was so busy that he had to forcibly select new projects to work on just to have something to do.

As a result, while the company’s market value rose daily, their boss got less and less sleep.

Xiao Wu even added a sentence he couldn’t hold back: “How about you go sleep for a while? If anything comes up, I’ll report it to you immediately.”

Qiao Nanqi merely glanced at the clock.

It was past three in the afternoon.

He rubbed his brow, slowly stood up, and said, “Take me home.”

Xiao Wu blinked, only then remembering that Qiao Nanqi had been going home at this time every day lately.

He didn’t know why.

He suddenly recalled that during the year or so when Zhao Rong was around, he would occasionally ask at this time if Qiao Nanqi was coming home that night. If he was, Zhao Rong would tell the housemaid to prepare some dishes Qiao Nanqi liked.

His phone hadn’t received such a message in a long time, and it likely never would again.

Even he felt a bit of melancholy, let alone their boss.

Seeing Qiao Nanqi’s downcast expression, he knew Qiao Nanqi must be thinking of Zhao Rong again.

This was likely the reason Qiao Nanqi didn’t go home much.

After all, whether at home or at the office, he was alone.

But going home was better than staying at the company; at least there was a greater chance he might rest.

He immediately set down his work and grabbed the car keys. “Alright, I’ll drive you back.”

Although the company was in a bustling area, Qiao Nanqi liked peace and quiet, so his home was in a remote location. The return route usually went from the city center toward the distant suburbs.

But as soon as the car left the company, Qiao Nanqi mentioned a location and asked Xiao Wu to take a detour through there.

As soon as he heard the name of the place, Xiao Wu understood.

That was Zhao Rong’s own home.

Qiao Nanqi said they were just passing by, but everyone knew better—Qiao Nanqi had even bought an apartment there just so he would have an excuse to drive in and take a look whenever he wanted.

When they reached the residential complex, Xiao Wu didn’t even ask; he drove in with practiced ease.

He deliberately drove slowly, and as they passed Zhao Rong’s front door, he almost let off the gas entirely.

Qiao Nanqi sat in the back seat, head turned, rolling down the window.

He had passed by like this several days ago, just catching a glimpse. There had been no movement inside, and he didn’t know if Zhao Rong had moved into Lu Xingping’s house yet. But he couldn’t go to Lu Xingping’s place; if he did and saw them together, he might not be able to stop himself from saying or doing something. So he could only come here, hoping that one day he might run into Zhao Rong coming home for a visit.

But all these days, he hadn’t encountered him once.

And today, not only did he not see Zhao Rong, but he saw a small truck parked next to Zhao Rong’s house. The front door was open, and workers were clearly moving furniture in and out.

Qiao Nanqi froze. Xiao Wu hadn’t expected this either, and his foot came off the accelerator completely as the car crawled forward.

The person directing the movers saw them lingering and thought they were worried about hitting a worker. He raised a hand to clear the way and shouted, “Sorry about that! We’re moving, you can just drive on through.”

Xiao Wu naturally wouldn’t say they were there on purpose. He smiled at the man. “Thanks.”

Then, he looked back. “Sir?”

From the back seat came Qiao Nanqi’s low voice: “Let’s go. He… sold this place.”

“Oh, alright.”

Xiao Wu stepped on the gas. This time, he didn’t deliberately slow down; instead, he couldn’t wait to drive away.

Qiao Nanqi watched the figures of the movers grow distant before withdrawing his gaze.

Zhao Rong had even sold his own home.

When Zhao Rong was with him, he had kept this residence. Yet after being married to Lu Xingping for barely a month, he hadn’t even left himself a way back.

With Xiao Wu still in the front, Qiao Nanqi didn’t want to show any more emotion. He merely composed his expression and instructed, “No need to drive through here anymore.”

“Oh, okay…”

They detoured slightly through the city center, hitting the beginning of the evening rush hour. After being stuck in traffic for a while, twilight had already fallen by the time they reached home.

As she did every day, Li Jie had prepared ingredients in the kitchen, waiting for Qiao Nanqi to return.

Qiao Nanqi took off his coat and skillfully changed into a plain black casual short-sleeved shirt. After removing his white shirt, the scar on his left wrist—the one he had bitten himself—was exposed.

Through Qiao Nanqi’s careful treatment, only a faint set of tooth marks remained; the rest would have to be slowly erased by time and medication. When he was out, he either wore shirts or covered it with a watch, but now that he was home, he didn’t bother hiding it.

Walking into the kitchen, Qiao Nanqi looked at the ingredients. “Learning two dishes today?”

Li Jie nodded quickly. “That’s right, one stew and one stir-fry. Mr. Qiao, in a couple more days, we’ll have finished learning all of Xiao Zhao’s favorites. I really won’t have anything left to teach you.”

“When we’re done, just pick some similar dishes.”

“Alright, alright.”

The kitchen wall was already covered with yellow sticky notes. Some had lost their stickiness over time and were secured with transparent tape by Qiao Nanqi.

His home was no longer like before—pristine walls and empty floors, meticulously kept. It seemed to have gained a bit more “life.”

Except he was the only one living there.

At most, one could count those “cat ancestors” who turned the house upside down every day.

Still, he continued to return on time every day to learn Zhao Rong’s favorite foods from Li Jie.

A few days ago, Xia Yuantu had happened to visit him at this time. Seeing him learning, he said, “Why are you still learning this? Take a break. If Zhao Rong and Xingping actually break up, it won’t be too late then. And besides, they might not necessarily…”

Xia Yuantu stopped there, but his meaning was clear.

Qiao Nanqi naturally understood, but he told Xia Yuantu: “I don’t have anything else to do. Yuantu, I need something to look forward to.”

Xia Yuantu was instantly silenced.

At the time, Qiao Nanqi still seriously finished several dishes and invited Xia Yuantu to taste them—since there was no one else to eat them anyway.

After a few bites, Xia Yuantu said, “Impressive. Young Master Qiao, and you still say you’ve failed?”

Qiao Nanqi didn’t answer him.

Xia Yuantu seized the opportunity: “Do you still need to see Xingping for a consultation?”

“I haven’t,” he said.

“How about finding another psychologist you don’t know? If you find a good one and sign a non-disclosure agreement, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

“No need. I’m not avoiding him because of embarrassment, but because I don’t need it.”

Xia Yuantu’s chopsticks paused at the edge of the plate. He looked up to study him. “You shouldn’t lie about this. Even though you’ve never been ‘ill’ and haven’t shown pathological symptoms, didn’t Xingping say it? You’ve been walking on the edge. If you don’t control it properly, it might really…”

“I don’t need it because I’m better. Yuantu, I haven’t had a single nightmare about my mother this past month.”

Xia Yuantu froze. “Then you…” You’re not as closed off and guarded as before?

Xia Yuantu didn’t say it, but Qiao Nanqi could tell what he meant.

He shook his head. “I do dream, but they’re just memories from when I was little and she was still alive.”

And then there was Zhao Rong.

The scenes that used to wake him in the middle of the night were no longer of Qiao Anqing jumping from the building, but of Zhao Rong in the wind and snow, touching his face with gentle movements and words that cut like knives: “I might not love you.”

Every time these words appeared in his dreams, they struck the bullseye, accurately dragging him awake.

His nightmare was no longer Qiao Anqing; it had become Zhao Rong.

Later, when Xia Yuantu left after dinner, he was less cautious in his speech.

He patted Qiao Nanqi’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, if Xingping tells me he and Zhao Rong have split, I’ll notify you immediately!”

Qiao Nanqi: “…”

Returning to the present, Qiao Nanqi was washing his hands when he heard Li Jie ask, “Mr. Qiao, when is Xiao Zhao actually coming back?”

Li Jie didn’t actually ask this often. In the beginning, she had asked once and didn’t dare ask again.

But later, Qiao Nanqi would occasionally ask her about Zhao Rong and even once asked her to mention more of their daily routines together. As she mentioned them more, she would often ask this question.

“It’s been almost half a year. I hope nothing’s happened?”

Hearing this, Qiao Nanqi forcefully twisted the faucet shut, his eyes shifting slightly.

Had it been almost half a year?

The past two years had gone by so fast, yet this half-year had been so slow.

He said, “He’s fine.”

He said nothing else.

Li Jie was long accustomed to Qiao Nanqi’s passive way of speaking. She didn’t mind that he hadn’t answered her other questions and continued with her work.

Once these dishes Zhao Rong liked were finished, Qiao Nanqi ate them slowly. After Li Jie finished tidying up, she left as well.

Another day successfully endured.

It seemed he endured every day like this now.

Others said he was easier to get along with than before, but Xia Yuantu said he lacked his former spirit, while Xiao Wu started advising him to rest every day.

But he was clearly working and resting regularly.

It was just that the days of waiting were too long, requiring a busy routine to numb himself and a tiny bit of hope to keep him going.

Qiao Nanqi glanced at the time. Just as he was planning to take a shower and sleep, Xia Yuantu called him.

“Is something wrong at the company?”

“No,” Xia Yuantu’s background noise was extremely loud, filled with rocking music and shouting voices. “Everyone’s getting together tonight. Xingping, that guy, has been holed up at home for over a month, but he finally agreed to come. It’s been a long time since we’ve all been together. Old Qiao, you come too.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“Wait, don’t—!! I specifically asked Xingping if Zhao Rong was coming, and he said no.”

Qiao Nanqi’s hand paused as he was about to hang up.

Not coming?

They had called all their friends for the wedding over a month ago, yet Lu Xingping hadn’t appeared at any of these gatherings for over a month. Some said he was in the honeymoon phase, too happy to think of home, perhaps planning a trip with his partner.

Although Qiao Nanqi hadn’t said anything, he had felt the same way in his heart.

After all, Zhao Rong had even moved out of his own home.

But now that he was finally coming out, why did Lu Xingping… not bring Zhao Rong?

He frowned. “Send me the address.”